Fleeting Moments
by AkitoTsubaki
Summary: A collection of micro-ficlets, unofficially done using LiveJournal's 1sentence theme sets. Balthier/Vaan.


**Author's Note: **This is theme set Beta of the 1sentence livejournal community. I haven't officially picked up the pairing because someone else is doing it, but I really wanted to write something for the couple, so I'm doin' it anyway and posting it here instead. XD I haven't gotten out of the Lhusa mines yet, so a lot of this probably disregards canon. Most of it will be AU to combat this problem, as I don't want to spoiler myself just so that I can write fanfic accurately. I'll probably do another theme set once I've gotten farther in the game.

Anyway, hope ya like!

Notice: I'm looking for a beta for the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts fandoms. Please let me know if you're interested. :D

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**# 1**_ – _Walking

The Dalmascan sun was hot enough to singe, and just moving through the streets put Balthier in an absolutely foul mood until Vaan casually twined their fingers together.

**# 2** – Waltz

"_Ow,_ Vaan, damn it all," Balthier hissed as his partner stepped on his toes for the thousandth time, and the little brat didn't apologize, but instead laughed and kissed Balthier's cheek, spinning under his arm again.

**# 3** – Wishes

Vaan tried to think of Penelo, he really did, but as he dropped a single gil in the wishing pond, the only face he could envision was Balthier's.

**# 4** – Wonder

Balthier thought he had been privy to all of the wonders in Ivalice, until he saw Vaan naked.

**# 5** – Worry

"I detest flans," Balthier muttered, voice muffled into Vaan's shoulder as the younger boy held him close, skin still glowing from the after-effects of a hi-potion.

**# 6** – Whimsy

Balthier was interrupted from his reading by a soft _flump_ against his neatly combed hair, and when his fingers brushed against _daisy_ petals, of all things, his head snapped up to see Vaan above him with a flower behind his ear and a wide grin on his face.

**# 7 – **Waste/Wasteland

Some might say the desert surrounding Dalmasca was a death trap, but with Balthier twined against his side in the shade of a rocky outcrop, Vaan could only call it paradise.

**# 8** – Whiskey and rum

Balthier drank whiskey and Vaan preferred rum, and it was just one of many differences the couple had to work through.

**# 9** – War

"You know what this means, don't you," Balthier murmured, voice low and dangerous as he took in the coffee stain decorating the vest Vaan had borrowed for the night.

**# 10** – Weddings

As the happy couple retired into the Sandsea for their reception, Vaan bit his lip and muttered, "Sometimes I wish we--" and Balthier just stroked his hair and didn't say anything.

**# 11** – Birthday

When he came home to yet another puddle, along with two pairs of huge, imploring eyes, Balthier really started regretting Vaan's latest birthday present.

**# 12 – **Blessing

"What did I do to deserve you?" Balthier murmured, his lips moving against soft blond hair that smelled of sand and sun.

**# 13 –** Bias

"But I'm _right,_" Penelo said indignantly, and though it was true, Balthier just shrugged and draped an arm around Vaan's shoulder.

**# 14 – **Burning

Jealousy, Balthier observed as he watched Penelo's fingers slide over Vaan's shoulders, produced some very unpleasant sensations in the pit of one's stomach.

**# 15 – **Breathing

Vaan figured that if there was a heaven, it was this; lying against Balthier in his bed, skin to skin, breathing together.

**# 16 – **Breaking

On the other hand, Balthier thought there was no greater rapture than watching Vaan break apart underneath him, crying his pleasure to heated air.

**# 17 – **Belief

"Vaan is in love with Penelo," Balthier reminded himself firmly, and one of these days, it would stop hurting to do so.

**# 18 – **Balloon

"I didn't know you could play the piano," Balthier mused, draping himself over the instrument as Vaan started singing.

**# 19** – Balcony

"It's pretty," Vaan commented, and he was so busy staring at the cityscape that he didn't realize Balthier was looking at him when he replied, "Far more than just _pretty,_ my dear."

**# 20 – **Bane

"If I didn't love you so very much, I think I would loathe you," Balthier growled, refusing to give in to Vaan's infectious laughter.

**# 21 – **Quiet

"This snow stuff isn't half bad," Vaan murmured, settling back into Balthier's arms as the whiteness fell around them.

**# 22 – **Quirks

Balthier didn't run, he _pranced,_ but Vaan's hips swayed like a hooker's whenever he stood still, so he couldn't really talk.

**# 23 – **Question

Balthier froze in pure, simple shock, not because of the question itself, but because Vaan had been the one to ask it.

**# 24 – **Quarrel

"Yeah, whatever," Vaan snapped as he stalked out of the room, and Balthier started making up the couch with spare blankets.

**# 25 – **Quitting

"Because I love him," Vaan said, ignoring the tears in Penelo's eyes as he threw a spare sweatshirt on top of his jeans, then shut and locked the suitcase with a final, heavy _click_.

**# 26 – **Jump

Balthier's cry reached Vaan's ears just in time to snap him into action, and as he landed in the relative safety of his lover's arms, the ground where he'd been standing exploded with almost poetic violence.

**# 27 – **Jester

"Happy Halloween to you, too," Balthier mused, tugging on one of the bells hanging from Vaan's cap.

**# 28 – **Jousting

"Can you see now?" Balthier grunted from somewhere near Vaan's crotch, his hands on Vaan's thighs to steady him as the boy peered over crowds of Renaissance enthusiasts gathered to watch the tournament.

**# 29** – Jewel

Vaan looked from Balthier's face, searching for any sign of a joke, down to the ring in his hand, and back again, fighting insistently against the happy lump rising in his throat.

**# 30 – **Just

"Just—just—_there,_" and Vaan's face contorted again, and Balthier grinned wickedly and thrust harder.

**# 31 – **Smirk

"Stop looking so self-satisfied," Vaan muttered, a charming blush creeping up his face under Balthier's impish stare.

**# 32 – **Sorrow

"But I still love you," Vaan called weakly, and though Balthier's heart broke a little more with every step, he kept walking.

**# 33 – **Stupidity

Balthier couldn't tear his eyes from the mess Vaan had made of the kitchen, though he found some amusement in the fact that his dog and his lover had freakishly similar facial expressions when they knew they were in trouble.

**# 34 – **Serenade

"I can't believe you just did that in _broad daylight,_" Vaan began, wrapping his arms around Balthier's neck, "but I'm really only pissed because you never told me you could sing."

**# 35 – **Sarcasm

"You know, I can't tell if you're making fun of me when you get sarcastic like that, " Vaan grumbled, and even though he knew it was a bad idea, Balthier leaned in to kiss away Vaan's pout.

**# 36 – **Sordid

"Wouldn't you like to know," Vaan answered smugly, ignoring his friend's cries of protest and disappointment as he raised his bottle to his lips.

**# 37 – **Soliloquy

Vaan laughed until he wet himself the first time he walked in on Balthier speechifying in front of his mirror (something about the 'tango de l'amour'), but he came to accept it as just another quirk, even if it was a few weeks before he could sleep with Balthier without giggling.

**# 38 – **Sojourn

"Well, isn't this a lovely little--" Balthier never got to finish his sentence, because Vaan had quite literally _leaped _into his arms and caught him in a hot, insistent kiss.

**# 39 – **Share

"Open," Balthier requested, and Vaan obediently took the spoon into his mouth.

**# 40 – **Solitary

Balthier enjoyed the first few days of quiet while Vaan was traveling with Penelo—'fag-hag time', she'd called it—but by the third day, he found himself staring into the overly tidy kitchen and aching for the brat to come home and mess it up.

**# 41 – **Nowhere

"It was great, but there's nowhere quite like your own bed," Vaan admitted, tightening his arms around Balthier's waist and absorbing the familiar scent of well-loved cotton and aftershave.

**# 42 – **Neutral

"I _like_ neutral colors," Vaan says defensively, clutching the paint can to his chest as if he's afraid Balthier will snatch it from him, which he's sorely tempted to do—honestly, _taupe?_

**# 43 – **Nuance

It was just a little thing, but Balthier had noticed that there was a certain spot under Vaan's jaw that drew out all sorts of interesting noises when it was licked.

**# 44 – **Near

"You're going to get sick, too," Vaan croaked, but he tucked his head against Balthier's cool neck anyway.

**# 45 – **Natural

"Fran says it's healthier," Balthier supplied, but from the look Vaan was giving him, he doubted they'd be buying that particular brand of organic, fiber-rich cereal again.

**# 46 – **Horizon

Balthier had brought Vaan up the hill to watch the sunset, but when his wayward love started rolling down the dewy slope instead, pulling Balthier after him, he found that he didn't mind the change in plan.

**# 47 – **Valiant

"Even if nobody else takes you seriously, you'll always be _my_ leading man," Vaan says matter-of-factly, smoothing his hands over Balthier's tense shoulders.

**# 48 – **Virtuous

"I believe this qualifies as blasphemy," Balthier panted, hands sliding for purchase under Vaan's plaid, pleated, deliciously short skirt.

**# 49 – **Victory

The little old lady had just come to get a cup of tea, but she found she couldn't look away from the two young men at the next table dismantling a flan in a frighteningly gleeful manner.

**# 50 – **Defeat

"I've been trying to convince myself not to give in to my feelings for you," Balthier whispered, "but I don't think I want to win this particular challenge anymore."

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**A/N: **Well, there you go. Fifty themes, fifty sentences. As I said above, I would like to do all five theme sets for this couple, so expect updates in the future...but maybe not until I've gotten a little farther in the game. Since this fic centers around one-word prompts, if you've got any ideas, feel free to drop me a line!


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